In view of recent national developments, the NCD Alliance of Kenya (NCDAK) is supporting its members to open County Chapters in order to strengthen the Alliance and facilitate coordinated NCD prevention at the county level.

This development in the alliance’s structure comes partly as a response to changes in the national health sector, which was devolved in 2013 resulting in the creation of 47 County governments. While the Ministry of Health has retained the role for policy and national referral facilities, County governments have taken charge of service delivery and some have begun investing resources in implementing NCD-related activities. There is also an interest from development partners to support activities at the county level directly. 

According to Dr. Mary Amuyunzu-Nyamongo, Secretary of NCD Alliance of Kenya, this move towards the creation of County Chapters is necessary in order to catalyse action: “Empowering communities to take charge of their lives requires that NCD initiatives at the national level are cascaded to the lower levels of governance in order to give people a voice and resources to act.”

NCDAK provides guidance to County teams seeking to establish their chapters, including the importance of identifying a facilitator, holding an initial meeting of stakeholders, agreeing upon and documenting the operational modalities of the chapter, and eventually developing a work plan. 

The NCDAK plans to avail staff and relevant documents to the County Chapters and, where possible, a member of the Alliance will be present during the initial meetings to provide technical support as necessary. The county of Embu has been the first to take up the task of establishing a chapter, with the support of MSF Belgium.